§ Dr. KumarTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the level of consumer debt; and what estimate he has made of the change in the number of companies offering(a) credit and (b) loans in the last three years. [138832]
§ Ruth KellyThe Government's forthcoming pre-Budget report will include an assessment of developments in consumer debt. The Office of Fair Trading's Annual Report contains statistics on consumer credit licences granted and the Financial Services Authority's Annual Report contains statistics on lenders regulated by the FSA (available respectively at www.oft.gov.uk/News/ Annual+report and www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/annual).